The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has released draft model rules for residential developments catering to retired and senior citizens. Recently, senior citizen homes have become increasingly popular in urban property markets.
Now, retirement communities are seeing growing demand from developers. However, it has been reported that these designs often overlook the basic needs of this demographic. To prevent potential fraud and disappointment among retirees and elderly persons, MahaRERA has released draft model guidelines for this type of housing development.
The authority has received criticism for developers falsely marketing their real estate developments as retirement homes. Many of these projects do not meet the basic requirements necessary for senior citizen residences.
MahaRERA will make sure that elderly residents who move into these types of housing buildings have access to necessary amenities. With the release of these new guidelines, MahaRERA will become the first housing regulatory agency in India to provide guidelines for home developments intended for the retired.
Once the rules are applied, developers will need to incorporate some unique clauses into the Agreement for Sale and other documents. Senior citizen housing developments will now have to be constructed according to the model specifications.
The proposal also outlines the minimum physical requirements that each project must meet. These include building construction standards that consider the needs of elderly residents. The standards cover building design, green building concepts, stairways, lifts, ramps, lighting, ventilation, safety, and security.
MahaRERA has published the draft of the "Regulation of Retirement Homes" document on its website. The authority is currently accepting opinions and suggestions regarding the guidelines. These can be sent to suggestions.maharera@gmail.com before February 29.
The model guidelines include several key points. Some of them are:
1. All buildings with more than one floor must have a lift.
2. All lifts must have an audiovisual system.
3. Wheelchair users must be able to easily enter and exit lifts.
4. Ramps must be installed to allow wheelchair users to move freely.
5. The width of the stairs must not be less than 1500 mm.
6. Handrails must be installed on both sides of the staircase.
7. The staircase must not have more than twelve steps.
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